The present invention relates to an insulating body to be used with a connector, which enables the transmission of electrical signals by means of conventional electrical conductors and of optical signals by means of optical conductors as well as of electrical signals of so-called xe2x80x9ctwisted pairxe2x80x9d conductors.
For the transmission of signals between conductors, connectors are used which comprise insulating bodies which are arranged in their housing components. The conductors are connected with contacts within the insulating bodies, which are connected with corresponding contacts of an associated insulating body for signal transmission to other conductors, to which the other conductors are electrically connected.
For the transmission of electrical signals of conventional electrical conductors (e.g. copper conductors), for the transmission of electrical signal of special electrical conductors (e.g. so-called xe2x80x9ctwisted pairxe2x80x9d conductors), and for the transmission of optical signals of optical conductors (e.g. fibre conductors) different connectors are generally used which are tailored to the respective application. This approach results in that different connector types are required for the connection of lines which comprise different conductor types and/or transmit different signals. For connecting such lines by means of one connector type it is necessary that the connectors, and in particular their insulating bodies, account for the characteristics of the different conductors and/or different signals.
Contrary to conventional copper conductors which can be connected by means of plug contacts and socket contacts arranged in the insulating bodies, special requirements are to be considered when using optical conductors for the transmission of optical signals. For instance, it is not possible to use similar connections with electrical pin and socket contacts. For the electrical transmission of signals it is essentially sufficient if the pin and socket contacts are connected with each other in an electrically conductive manner at one point. Compared to that, special importance is attributed to a contact point between optical conductors in the transmission of optical signals because undesired signal deteriorations, in particular damping of optical signals, may occur there.
In order to be able to connect common electrical (copper) conductors and xe2x80x9ctwisted pairxe2x80x9d conductors with one connector type, insulating bodies are therefore required which, in addition to conventional pin and socket contacts for electrical conductors, also provide electrically conductive connections for xe2x80x9ctwisted pairxe2x80x9d conductors, which are connections comparable to xe2x80x9ccrimpxe2x80x9d connections.
From WO97/31407 an electrical connector is known which comprises a first part with first and second engaging elements and a first abutment surface and a second part with a means for engaging the engaging elements and a second abutment surface. For the arrangement of electrical conductors in the connector, the first engaging elements are engaged with the second part, electrical conductors are arranged in bushings of the first and second part, and the second engaging elements are engaged with the second part in order to secure the electrical conductors within the connector. Upon engagement of the second engaging elements with the second part, the first and second abutment surfaces contact each other. The bushings in the connector comprise spring elements which, relative to the bushings, exert radially inwardly acting forces on the electrical conductors. DE 199 45 173 A1 discloses a connector for lightwave fibre cables with holes for accommodating ends of lightwave fibre cables. The connector comprises one crimp each within the holes for locating ends of the lightwave fibre cables.
It is the object of the invention to provide an insulating body which allows the transmission of electrical and optical signals and/or electrical signals by means of conductors of different types. In particular, the invention is to enable the use of contacts in an insulating body for the transmission of optical signals and/or contacts for the transmission of electrical signals of xe2x80x9ctwisted pairxe2x80x9d conductors in addition to conventional pin and socket contacts for electrical signals.
As mentioned above, it is required for the transmission of optical signals between optical conductors that the components used for the transmission (i.e. optical contact elements) are positioned relative to each other in such a manner that no optical signal deteriorations (e.g. damping) occur at the contact points. For this purpose it is necessary that insulating bodies of connectors used for the connection ensure an exact as possible positioning of the optical contacts.
Compared to that the requirements for the positioning of conventional electrical pin and socket contacts in an insulating body are significantly lower, because an electrical transmission is ensured therein as long as the electrical contacts are connected with each other in a conductive manner.
In order to meet these conflicting requirements by an insulating body for a connector, the approach was chosen in the present invention to design the construction of an insulating body in such a manner that for the compensation of tolerances of the insulating body and of components to be used in connection with same signal transmission components (e.g. contacts) to be arranged in the insulating body can be positioned exactly and reproducibly.
Based on this solution, it was found that an insulating body can also be used in connection with xe2x80x9ctwisted pairxe2x80x9d conductors if signal transmission components (e.g. contacts) are used for these conductors, which are designed in a manner comparable to optical connections. In this case, too, it is required to be able to position the contacts for xe2x80x9ctwisted pairxe2x80x9d conductors in an insulating body exactly and reproducibly.
This is solved by an insulating body according to claim 1, which is designed for the transmission of electrical and/or optical signals in a connector. The insulating body comprises a lower part with a first engaging element, a second engaging element, and a stop, as well as an upper part with a distance collar and an engaging means arranged at the distance collar. The first engaging means serves to engage the lower and upper part in a first engagement position, with the first engaging element being engaged in the engaging means. In a second engagement position the second engaging element of the lower part engages with the engaging means of the upper part, with the stop being in a mechanically effective connection with the distance collar.
The use of the second engaging element and the stop at the lower part in connection with the engaging means and the distance collar ensures that the lower and upper part, due to the effective connection of the second engaging element and the engaging means, on the one hand, are in secure engagement with one another and, on the other hand, due to the effective connection of the stop and the distance collar assume a pregiven position at any time.
In the second engagement position, the inventive insulating body is in its working position in which it can be inserted into a corresponding connector. The first engagement position corresponds to a condition of the insulating body in which electrical and/or optical contacts can be exactly positioned within same.
According to the invention the lower part comprises bushings for accommodating optical conductors and/or special electrical conductors (e.g. xe2x80x9ctwisted pairxe2x80x9d conductors) and a spring element in at least one bushing. In the second engagement position the spring elements generate spring forces acting on the optical and/or electrical conductors arranged within said bushings. These spring forces urge the corresponding optical and/or electrical conductors into desired positions relative to the insulating body whereby tolerances of the optical and/or electrical conductors themselves arranged in the insulating body are compensated.
Preferably, the spring elements generate spring forces acting on these optical and/or electrical conductors in the first engagement position as well, in order to pre-position them. In order to simplify the assembly of the insulating body, the spring forces generated in the first engagement position are smaller than the spring forces generated in the second engagement position.
In addition, the lower part of the inventive insulating body may have a means for the structurally consistent integration of a printed circuit board into the insulating body and thus into a connector to be used with same. The use of suitable printed circuit boards, more precisely, the use of suitable circuits arranged on the printed circuit boards, enables the processing of optical and/or electrical signals of the previously mentioned optical conductors and/or special electrical conductors, to optimise their transmission.
In order to simplify the assembly of the insulating body with contacts for conventional electrical conductors (e.g. copper conductors), the bushings of the lower part for such conductors comprise a gripping collet each. In the second engagement position, the gripping collets assume a locking position in order to secure a corresponding electrical conductor in the insulating body. The gripping collets are, in particular, elastic components formed at the lower part, which in the second engagement position are elastically deformed and due to the mechanically effective connection resulting therefrom with the electrical conductors routed through the gripping collets secure these in the insulating body.
In addition, it is provided that the gripping collets assume a release position in the first engagement position, which enables the easy assembly and/or disassembly of electrical conductors, or to be more precise, the insertion and/or removal into or from the corresponding bushings in the lower part.
In order to have the gripping collets assume the locking position in the second engagement position, the bushings of the upper part associated with the bushings of the lower part comprising the gripping collets have an area each which, in the second engagement position, acts on the corresponding gripping collet in such a manner that it is moved into the locking position.
Preferably these bushings of the upper part comprise a mounting area each in which the corresponding gripping collet is arranged at least partially in the first engagement position and assumes its release position.
The first and/or the second engaging elements of the lower part can comprise one notch or several notches each. In order to also enable a visual inspection of the two engagement positions, the engaging means of the upper part comprises at least one engagement window which is formed in the distance collar. Alternatively or in addition it is possible that the engaging means of the upper part comprises at least one recess formed in the distance collar. This can be advantageous with small insulating bodies because the mechanical stability of the distance collar is thereby increased.
In the most simple case, the spring elements arranged in the bushings of the lower parts are plate spring type springs extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of a corresponding bushing, which are preferably formed integrally with the lower part.
It is further provided to use spring elements which essentially extend transversely to the longitudinal direction of corresponding bushings and which comprise an at least partially spiral-shaped form. The spiral-shaped form allows to route optical and/or electrical conductors which are to be subjected to a spring force through the spiral-type spring elements. For the transmission of the desired spring force the spiral-type spring elements and in particular their diameters are to be dimensioned depending on the conductors to be used.
The means for the structurally consistent integration of a printed circuit board preferably comprises two printed circuit board locating elements which extend from the lower part and serve to accommodate and secure printed circuit boards. In addition, this means can also comprise a printed circuit board receptacle which is formed in the lower part and which is at least partially connected with the bushings comprising the spring elements. This connection of the bushings and the printed circuit board receptacle allows to route corresponding conductors from a printed circuit board into and through the bushings in a convenient manner.